Railroad tie



Jan. 14, 1930. M; LEVINE.

RAILROAD TIE Filed Feb. v5, 1929 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 14, 1930 PATENT"MORRIS LEVINE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD T0` DAVID A.WEILL AND ONE-THIRD TO MORRIS WACHTEL, BOTH OF NEW' YORK, N. Y.

RArLRoAn Tru App1cation 1ed February 5, 1929. Serial No. 337,541.

The present invention relates to railroad ties and more particularly tosectional ties and method of making.

A substantial part, if not all, ofthe railroads in this country haverails laid upon wooden ties, the ties being approximately eight feetlong. It is common knowledge that these ties are relatively expensiveand that they become more expensive yearly due to the decrease in theavailable lumber supply. Various types of substitutes have beenattempted, such as cement, steel and the like, but for various reasonshave been unsuccessful. In some cases, there was not suticientresilience to provide a smooth roadbed, in other cases thesubstituteswere too expensive. In addition, the roadbeds have to beinspected constantly to determine the worn or burned ties no longeruseful and these have to be replaced. These replacements and inspectionsincrease substantially the upkeep of the roadbeds for railroads.

rlfhe present invention aims to overcome theV above diiiiculties byproviding a railroad tie Iadapted to be manufactured from wood givegreater wear and a more perfect roadbed. i Another object of theinvention is to provide a method of making railroad ties fromV woodwhich would otherwise be wasted. y, Another object of the invention -isto proivide a sectional tie having the surface ofthe respective sectionsheat treated to increase the weather resisting properties thereof.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of theY illustrative embodiment about to be described Y orwill be indicated in the appended claims,

and various advantages not referred to herein has been chosen forpurposes of illustration and description and is shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein Fig. l is a perspective view of acompleted tie;

Fig. 2 is an end view, showing another form of tie;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the plates which are adapted to be wrappedaround the sections of the tie to hold -them in position;

Fig. l is a detailed view of a slightly different form of plateadaptedto be used at curves and similar places on the roadbed to provideadditional support for the rails.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of a rail attached to severalties;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the application of heat andpressure to the sections of the tie;

Fig. 8 is a detailed illustration of a preferred form of bolt forholding the rail in position; and

Fig; 9 is a detailed sectional view illustrat-ing a preferredv form oftie composed of branches from trees with the bark thereon.

In the manufacture of the present type of railroad tie, certain types oftreesare cut down and made into proper lengths for the formation ofties. The longitudinal sawing of the trees to make the ties 'may be donein the vicinity of the lplace where the trees have stood or the logs maybe shipped to some` central milling plant for the sawing operation. l Ineither event, there is a considerable waste of material due to thesawingoperations and to the loss of the parts of the tree which are not used.Ties are made only from the very best part of the tree, that is, thetrunk. The limbs and lap of the tree are permitted to rot in the Woods.TheV present invention contemplates the use of the limbs and the lap ofthe tree without substantial waste of material. i

By making the tie in sections it is possible to utilize any size orshape of lumber and ascombine with the shapes of the otherpiecesoflumber forming one or inoreties. compressing operation may be performedwith the bark on the limb or after it has been removed. The pressurereduces the bark to a state where its tendencyto absorb water is-greatlyminimized. In addition,the present invention. contemplatestheapplication of heat to the external surface ofthe various sections, toharden thesurface and to render itA resistant to Aweather conditions,thereby eliminating the use of cliainicals for this purpose. While-theabove method has inherent advantageous characteristics other thanthose described herein,;nevertheless the illustrated embodiment ispeculiarly adapted to the above method.

Referringmore particularly to the drawings, there is shownin Fig. 1 arailroad tie havingy aplurality of sections 1 ofsuch size and number asto forma railroadtie of proper size. In Fig.- 1 the number of sectionsis shown as six, whereas inFig,.2 a slightly different form of tieshows`four sections. The sections shown in each of these figures may be*madefrom-,branches of; trees or theilike.

lVhile the varioussections can, ofl course, bel

secured. together in any suitable manner,the preferred embodiment,illustrated. in Fig.v 3, is a strap or metallic blank?) having a-centralpart 4l adapted to lit, on the upper side of the tie withwa' pairofa-pertures: -5 thereiny adapted to receive suitable bolts or spikes 6for securing Vthe rail in position. Theends of the blankex'tendf fromdiagonally opposite sides ofthe centralY part and-f are :adapte ed tobebent downwardly around ai section of the tie, as shown in;y Fig. 1.-Preferably,-

the members 7 are of suflicient lengtghto permit them-tol extend downone side and over the bottom ofthe tie, withl the free end bent upwardlyovera part of the :outer side of the. tie, as shown at 9.v Suitableapertures 10` may be formedr in the membersV 7 to permit nails vorspikes to be driventherethroughtosecure thevarious sections ofthe tierigidly@ in position; p

Tn-Figure 4, a blank differingslightlyfroin that in Fig. 3 is shown.This blank 1s provided with a strip of metal 12-punched fromofthecupwardlybent parti 12 andthe inf.

wardly extending portions will fit into the side of the rail to bracethe rail against slipping and also against turning over under thepressure exerted by the train *moving thereover. rlhe various sectionsof the tie give greater resilience than a one piece tie affords. Thisgives a smoother roadbed and permits the compression of the sectionsinto the proper shape without increasing the rigidity of the tiematerially.

A diagrammatic construction is shown in Fig. 7 for shaping and heatvtreating the respective sections. -While any type of apparatus may beusedfor this purpose, there is shown in the drawing a combined bed andsideplate 14: wherein is placed the material 17 to be compressed intosections. A movable horizontal compressing member 15, together withamovable vertical compressing member 16 compresses the section intothedesired form.k Any suitable heating means such as superheated steam orgas jets (not shown) may be used for furnishing heat to the bed plateand compressing members vfor the purpose of heat treating the Voutersurface of the sections during the compressing process. The sections maybe compressed individually or in groups, as desired.

Preferably, the respective sections are placed in suitable holders afterthe shaping operation and the blanks 3 are fitted thereabout and securedthereto-to hold them iimly in position. However, it will be understoodthat the sections or branches may be first assembled, and thereafterreduced to the proper` size by, applying pressure to thev group. Thereis no necessity for all of the sections` being alike and, hence, limbsor pieces of lumber of various sizes may be made into different sizedsections, several of which are adapted to complete a tie. i

-Vhile any-suitable means may be utilized forsecuring the rail to thetie, a preferred forni of bolt 2O is shown-iii Fig. 8. This boltissuiiicientl-y long to extend through the tie. The upper end-isprovided with relatively large threads 21 adapted to receive a nutf22serrated at its bottom 24 for engagement with tliebase of the rail. Aprojection 25 vextends from the end of the bolt substantially smallerthan the bolt to receive a lock nut 26 recessed and serrated at itsbottom, as shown at 27 and 28 respectively, and threaded to the smallerthreads29. By means of the nut 22 a very secure grip is obtained ontherail and by means ofy the nut 26 and the smaller lthreads 29, a securelock isvattained which prevents the nut 22 from becoming loose.

In Fig. 'p9, there isV shown a sectional view of a tie formedof branches30 of trees which have been compressed'substantially Vto their thecorners being slightly rounded. By forming the sections in this manner,less compression is required to shape them and the compressive forcesmay be smaller.

It Will be seen that the present invention provides a construction whichmay be readily manufactured from Waste material, thereby decreasing itscost. The resulting tie has excellent Wearing properties and inherentresilience adapted to provide a smooth roadbed requiring less inspectionand less replacement of ties. Further, the ties may be utilized inpresent types of roadbeds Without necessitating changes therein. Byutilizing the present method a substantial saving may be made.

As various changes may be made in the above embodiment Without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, it is to be understood that all matterherein isto be interpreted a's illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A railroad tie comprising the combination of a plurality of sectionalmembers formed from the branches of trees and shaped to fit together tocompose a railroad tie, and a band of metal adapted to be Wrapped aboutsaid sectional members` to hold them in place and to furnish means forsecuring a rail to the tie.

2. A railroad tie comprising the combination of a plurality of sectionalmembers compressed into shape to lit together and to form a tie, andmeans for securing said members together, said means being adapted tolit under a rail, and having a part cut and bent out of the plane ofsaid means to lit against the rail to hold it in position.

3. A railroad tie comprising a series of sections, said sections havingtheir exterior surfaces subjected to a relatively high temperature toimprove the Wear thereof, and means for securing said sections together.

4f. A railroad tie comprising the combination of a plurality of sectionsheat treatedto render the exterior surfaces thereof resistant to Weatherand pressed into the proper shape to combine With other sections informing a tie.

5. A railroad tie comprising the combination of a plurality of sections,each of said sections being pressed into proper shape to fit with othersections, the external surfaces of said sections being heat treated toincrease the Wear thereof, and means extending about said sections tohold them in position.

6. A railroad tie formed from Wood Which has been compressed into thedesired shape, and the external surface of which has been heat treatedto increase the Wear thereof.

7. A railroad tie comprising a plurality of pieces comprising thebranches of trees, the cross-sectional dimensions of each branch beingsubstantially less than the cross-sectional dimensions of the tie.

8. The method of making railroad ties Which comprises pressing aplurality of branches from trees into shapes adapted to form a tie, andsecuring said branches together in their proper relation.

9. The method of making railroad ties which consists in heat treatingthe external surfaces of the tie to increase the Wear thereof. Y

10. The method of making railroad ties Which consists in shaping aseries of sections to adapt them to be assembled in proper relation toform a tie, heat treating the external surface of said sections, andsecuring the sections together in proper relation to form a tie.

1l. The method of utilizing the laps and branches of trees in vmakingrailroad ties which comprises shaping the tree branches to fit Withother branches, assembling said shapedbranches and binding said branchestogether to form a railroad tie.

MORRIS LEVINE

